Portfolio

SAN FRANCISCO -- Alternative investment strategies are relatively new. But they've already achieved broad acceptance within the investment world, Jerome Abernathy of Rydex SGI told a packed gathering at the Schwab Impact conference here Wednesday.

Russell Investments has launched three international equity “factor” exchange-traded funds designed to provide investors with focused exposure to fundamental risk factors—namely low beta, low volatility and high momentum. The funds complement Russell’s existing 10 domestic factor ETFs.

Putnam Investments has launched the Putnam Short Duration Income Fund, a fixed income fund that aims to combine the capital preservation appeal of a money market fund with the higher yield of an ultra-short bond fund.

Jerome Abernathy of Rydex SGI says alternative investment strategies will be increasingly critical for advisors who want to generate yield for their clients while also protecting them against systemic financial shocks.

SAN FRANCISCO -- Americans need a financial plan to turn them around. They’ve been consuming too much and saving too little for the better part of two decades, Bill Gross, PIMCO’s co-founder and co-chief investment officer, told a rapt audience of financial planners at the opening of the Schwab Impact 2011 conference.

In 2009, U.S. banking regulators subjected 19 of America's largest and most important banks (the "Too Big To Fail" ones) to so-called stress-tests in order to understand how well each bank's capital reserves would meet different challenging economic scenarios.

Eaton Vance has launched the Eaton Vance Multi-Strategy All Market Fund, a new fund that can invest in a broad spectrum of asset classes, including stocks, bonds and alternatives. The fund’s managers will employ fundamental analysis, quantitative portfolio optimization and risk management techniques.

Secondary market trading volume surged to more than $851 billion in the third quarter of 2011, the highest so far this year, but still fell 8.5% short of the almost $931 billion reached during the same period last year, the Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board said Wednesday.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 178.08 to 11836.04 Wednesday, reversing two days of declines. The market reacted to comments made by Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke at a press conference on the Fed’s monetary policy.

Three-quarters of 260 employers that suspended 401(k) matches due to the recession have restored them, Towers Watson said in a report Wednesday. Of these companies, 74% have brought these matches back to the levels they were before the recession, and only 23% have brought them back at a lower level.